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About the book

Historical content of the book

Disability sports hasn’t had the same amount of attention as the non-disabled ?counterparts. As such, the way the sport has been documented is often hard to find, inconsistent, based on anecdotal account rather than evidential proof, or is simply missing. It had taken over fifty years for writers interested in sports to compile a book on the history and development of the Paralympic movement. In 2008, a surge of interest led to the publication of two important books on the development of the Paralympics, notably;

Since the launch of these two books, a splurge of books reiterated the history and evolution of the Stoke Mandeville Games to what we currently call the Paralympics. Despite Sitting Volleyball featuring as a team sport played at every Summer Games since 1976, there has not been much mentioning of the development of the sport. In fact, in the two books mentioned, volleyball has only been mentioned when the sports were introduced because of new classifications, and when Standing Volleyball was dropped from the Summer Games programme. The 2000 Sydney Games were the last time Standing Volleyball appeared in the Paralympics, and it was also the last time when athletes with intellectual disabilities were sanctioned from taking part from the Games. It must be clearly stated that these two events were not related to each other and it is a coincidence that it was the last games for both types of activities. To further understanding the development of volleyball for the disabled, organisational structure of the World Organisation of Volleyball for the Disabled is presented in the book. The current structure was adopted at the 2012 World Congress, held in conjunction with the Intercontinental Cup, Egypt. Although documentation arose from reports from World Congress, the chapter is not an official representation of the WOVD and that the views are that of the author and not the WOVD. Competition results still remain incomplete, although the majority of the major competition results appear to be available on the internet. However, tournaments that were organised prior to the internet, or results that only appear after the website during the tournament and later disappear from the internet, make this task a worthwhile one to record. The book brings together as much material together from a variety of sources, mainly from the WOVD results section (which is currently unavailable), as well as results that have been stored by a group of contacts that is known to the Author. There is however an area of uncertainty with regards to the result of the 1976 Demonstration Event. According to some sources held by the WOVD, Germany prevailed over The Netherlands in the Final. However, sources of historians at those Games reported that The Netherlands won the Demonstration event. The official rules and documentation that explains the differences between sitting and standing volleyball can be found from the WOVD and from the national federations that play sitting volleyball. The document is usually read by referees, managers, coaches and players, and it therefore means, the person already has an understanding of the sport. This can often make the reading of the rules as sterile and difficult to follow for someone who comes from a disability sports background or a volleyball background. The ways the rules are interpreted are meant to provide a general overview. As with many rules of many games, the decisions can often be based upon a variety of complex variables that occur leading up to the end of the point, and it is not an easy task to describe every possible decision that undergoes a referee, nor the philosophies of the referees. Combining the experience as a referee and results from interviews of referees on the rule differences, gave the author an impression of how best to describe the differences. Ultimately, the interpretations are held by the author and that they do not necessarily represent all of the ways referees, players and coaches see the way points are played out. The most official stance is to clearly understand the way referees make their signal. There are diagrams in the rule books, that can be downloaded from the WOVD and National Federation websites that help illustrate the meanings made by referees.

Systems analysis of the book

A cohort of matches were collected between 2006 and 2012. To demonstrate that the trends are not just the modern means of playing the game, videos from prior the 2000 Sydney Games were also used and analysed.

Year

Championships

Match

Teams

Score

2006

World Championships

Women Finals

China v Netherlands

2-3

2000

Paralympic Games

Men Bronze

Finland v Egypt

3-2

2008

Paralympic Games

Women Finals

China v USA

3-0

2009

European Championships

Men Finals

Bosnia v Russia

3-2

2012

Sub Sahara Qualifier

Men Finals

Rwanda v Kenya

3-0

2007

Asian Oceania Invitational

Women Finals

China v USA

3-0

2007

Asian Oceania Invitational

3rd/4th Play Off

Japan v Iran

3-2

2009

European Championships

Group Women Prelim

Finland v Lithuania

1-3

2009

European Championships

Group Men Prelim

Great Britain v Greece

3-2

2007

European Championships

5-7th Women Placements

Germany v Russia

3-2

2003

European Championships

Men Finals

Russia v Bosnia

2003

European Championships

Women Groups

Netherlands v Finland

2003

European Championships

Women Groups

Finland v Slovenia

2003

European Championships

Men Groups

2003

European Championships

Men Groups

2012

Finnish Championship League

Main Round

Kotka v Toivala

2011

Finnish Championship League

Main Round

Kotka v Toivala

Youth Disability Sports

Hayley Fitzgerald’s book on Youth Disability Sports wrote that there is insufficient publications on the issues of sport for youth with disabilities. As a main proponent of youth disability sports for the Author’s studies, a series of experiments took place in the Finnish sports system.

About the author

Kwok Ng has formerly been a Steering Group member (coaching workforce) of the Sitting Volleyball Committee in the British Volleyball Federation. As an internationally qualified coach, he has been interested in technical, tactical, mental and environmental aspects of the sitting game. His research is in the areas of psychological and environmental factors surrounding sitting volleyball, from schools through to elite athletes. The opportunity to referee international matches has given him an experience that adds to his holistic outlook of the game.

International Presentations (related to Sitting Volleyball)

2012

Ng, K.W. Elite Athletes with Physical Disabilities Training Logs. Presented at the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport (ICSEMIS), Glasgow on 21st July 2012.

Ng, K.W., & Rintala, P. Sitting Volleyball: More than a Paralympic Game. Presented at the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport (ICSEMIS), Glasgow on 21st July 2012.

2011

2010

Ng, K.W. European Inclusive Physical Education Training Bolt Ons. Presented at the European Network of Young Specialists in Sport Psychology 5th Workshop, Trikala on 4th November 2010

Ng, K.W. & Ryba, T.V. EIPET: Filling the void of practicum activities with bolt-ons. Presented at the European Conference of Adapted Physical Activity, Jyväskylä on 7th May 2010

Ng, K.W., Ruiz, M., & Kokaridis, D. Participation in Elite Sitting Volleyball and its affect on training frequency and athletes’ emotional state. Presented at the European Conference of Adapted Physical Activity, Jyväskylä on 6th May 2010

2009

Ng. K.W. & Ruiz, M. Performance Related Emotions of Athletes with disabilities: An application of the IZOF model. Presented at the European Network of Young Specialists in Sport Psychology, Bolzano on 21st November 2009